Why do some men, mostly rock stars, feel the need to grab at their crotch when they perform?

It hit me while I was watching Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl half-time show. He grabbed at his crotch numerous times while he and his back-up singers and dancers ran through what appeared to be sugar cane fields and shimmied up realistic looking telephone poles in a high energy, fast-paced 13 minute performance mostly in Spanish, celebrating their Puerto Rican culture.

I now know why he’s the most popular entertainer all over the world. The ENTIRE world!

But still I need to know. Why crotch grabbing? What’s the deal?

“What the heck is going on with his crotch?” I texted to my girlfriend.

She and I were going back and forth while we watched the half-time show together even though we were miles apart.

“Is he afraid that somebody’s gonna try to take it?”

“I don’t know,” she texted back. “Maybe he needs to pee.”

“I thought maybe he had a bad itch,” I responded.

Whatever the reason, we both agreed that aside from the grabbing, he was an amazing entertainer.

It got me to thinking. Really, why do they do that?

I don’t remember earlier generation singers grabbing their crotches while they sang.

Frank Sinatra didn’t do it.

Elvis, with all of his gyrations didn’t do it and both Frank and Elvis had grabable crotches.

Country singers? Alan Jackson? Toby Keith? Alabama? Not a one ever crotch grabbed.

I asked Melissa my crazy-about-StevenTyler daughter, if he was a singing crotch grabber. She had to answer yes. BUT…she does know a rocker who performs all over the world and he’s not a grabber. Well, there ya go, not all is lost.

I questioned Julie, my older daughter about it. She thinks a good grab helps them hit the high notes. HA! Leave it to Julie.

I never saw a Beach Boy grabbing.

How about Rod Stewart or Elton John or what about one of the Beatles? Anybody ever see them grabbing? I’ll bet not.

Maybe “things” were just put together better back then, more intact?

I decided to do some crotch grabbing research and so I turned to the machine of  many answers (no, not my husband) my computer.

I found it…..Crotch Grabbing By Rock Stars.

THE HISTORY OF CROTCH GRABBING

It read in part:

Male singers grab their crotch on stage primarily as a subconscious, high-energy dance movement that interprets the music’s rhythm and emotion, famously described by Michael Jackson as being a “slave to the rhythm.”

Really? It was the rhythm he was a slave to? HA!

The move acts as a bold, hyper-masculine, or taunting gesture designed to shock or grab attention.

That’s called attention what they grab at? HA again.

Psychologists suggest such gestures can be a form of self-soothing behavior when performing under pressure.

Self-soothing? I’ll just leave that one right here.

In some cases, particularly in the 90’s with baggy clothing, it was used to adjust clothing that was riding low.

Adjusting? And who buys that one?

Seriously now:

A slave to the rhythm, hyper-masculine, self-soothing, adjusting low-riding clothes?

Who writes that stuff?

The first grabber noted was a woman, if you can believe that. Carol Pope was her name and she was a British born Canadian with a hard edged new wave rock band called “Rough Trade” from the mid 70’s.  During rehearsal for  the 1982 Juno awards, she grabbed her crotch. She was told NOT to do that during her live performance but of course, she did …with BOTH hands.

Next came Michael Jackson and Madonna.

Michael explained to Oprah in an interview that it just came with the feel of the music, a subconscious reaction to the music. Actually, he didn’t even realize that he crotch grabbed until later while watching the rehearsal footage. (and we believe that?) It was subliminal , he said. The music compelled him to do that.

I wonder, has music ever done that to you? Made you wanna grab your crotch? Me neither.

Madonna said it loud and clear for all to hear. No soft excuses.

Guys can grab so why can’t she?

And…why can’t she?

Well, she can and she does.

She explained in a piece on the internet that it was all part of her choreography with the intention of shocking her 1990 Blind Ambition Tour audience.

The internet went on to explain that Madonna deliberately crossed boundaries, pushing her artistic choices which were designed to show sexual liberation, power and defiance.

Well, I’d say mission accomplished and then some.

Here’s another one: Large stages, strong lights and adrenaline can make performers use broad, easily visible gestures to connect with distant audience members or cameras.

Um, I don’t think that those “broad, easily visible gestures” were to connect with the audience. Nope that isn’t an “audience” connection. Nope.

According to the great internet of May 2021:

Grabbing the crotch is shorthand body language for dominance and fearlessness. It projects macho confidence and a “don’t-mess-with-me” stance to the crowd and cameras.

Well, let me tell you about dominance and fearlessness.

I was an ER nurse for many years. I’ve held plenty of those gadgets in my gloved hands for medical procedures and I have to admit, there was a feeling of dominance but it was in my hands, not my full-of-fear, I might even say petrified, patients.

My point here is that dominant thinkers who grab to exhibit dominant behavior, aren’t always dominant. (ask any nurse.)

And now, after all of my research and deep thinking, I finally understand the grabbing.

For a male rocker, it’s a movement to show dominance and fearlessness.

A female rocker just wants you to know that if a guy can do it, so can she.

And then, there’s my girlfriend and me and we still think that it could have been a real bad itch or maybe he just had to pee.

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